Category: Edible Plants

Carbon Garden / Edible Plants / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Holiday Plants / Native Trees / Summer / Sustainable Gardening / Tree Care / Wildlife Gardening

 by 

The Regal Southern Magnolia

  The sweet fragrance of Magnolia flowers on a warm breeze announces summer in Virginia.  But that wasn’t the case 400 years ago, before European colonists began exploring for interesting tree species, transplanting them to new areas, and exporting them back to Europe.  The original native range of Magnolia grandiflora is only from the Carolinas south to Florida and westwards towards Texas along the Gulf Coast.  Our iconic Southern Magnolia trees aren’t indigenous in this region, but they have since...

Container Gardens / Edible Plants / Food Forest / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Herbs / Propagation / Wildlife Gardening

 by 

Landscaping With Herbs Part III: Annual, Biennial and Tender Perennial Herbs

Benefits of Garden Herbs Herbs attract hummingbirds and butterflies like few other plants.  It is worth planting a few herbs whether you plan to harvest and cook with them or not because they are tough, easy to grow, and beautiful.  They come with side benefits; their essential oils not only offer fragrance and flavor, but they also deter grazers.  If you have watched deer chew your roses and impatiens like deer candy, know that your herbs will survive their curiosity. ...

Edible Plants / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Native Trees / Vegetable Gardening

 by 

BLACK HISTORY, HOW FREED SLAVES SURVIVED IN FREEDOM PARK

In 1803, 27-year-old William Ludwell Lee died and in his will freed his slaves. Less than ten years earlier, Lee had inherited nearly 8700 acres and property that included 54 enslaved people ages 16 and older, 11 children ages 12 to 16, and a few children who were 11 and younger. While there is no evidence that Lee freed any enslaved people during his lifetime, upon his death, his slaves were freed effective January 1 in the year following his...

Animal repellant products / Community Gardening / Compost / Deer / Edible Plants / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Organic Vegetable Gardening / Raised Beds / Seeds / Spring

 by 

The Real Magic Is Starting With Seeds

  Growing our own plants from seeds opens up a wide horizon of choices never even imagined by those who depend on the big box stores for their starts each spring.  There are many varieties of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and trees that have never been marketed in our area as seedlings.  Even within a popular type of vegetable, like tomatoes, there are many delicious named cultivars, many of them heirloom, not in commercial production as seedlings. Malabar spinach, a vining...

Quince blossom

Edible Plants / Flowering Shrubs / Spring

 by 

Quince, An Early Bloomer

Most gardeners know this as Chaenomeles speciosa, (pronounced kee-NO May lees) commonly known as flowering quince. One of the first quince varieties introduced here in Virginia by English settlers and a native of Southeast Asia, it’s a member of the Rosaceae family replete with its own thorns. An effective barrier when planted in hedgerows, by 1720 Quince cultivation was thriving here in VA. Drought resistant Flowering Quince is a deciduous small flowering tree or large shrub with a long life...

Birds / Carbon Garden / Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by 

Diospyrus virginiana, the Divine Fruit

  A sadly spindly ‘mystery tree’ grows on a steep slope in our back fern garden.  I first noticed it six or seven years ago.  Its top was broken off in a winter snowstorm a while ago, and its odd growth pattern, plain looking leaves and immature bark left me clueless about its identify.  My best guess was that perhaps it was a paw paw tree, since the leaves are similar, and we have a stand of those nearby. But...

Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Sustainable Gardening

 by 

Foraging for Autumn Harvests

  Have you ever noticed how the strawberries you pick yourself on a warm May afternoon taste much better than the huge red berries you buy at the grocery store?  Everyone who has grown their own tomatoes, lettuce, or apples knows how much better homegrown food can taste.  You still need to be selective about what seeds you buy because some varieties of carrots and squash taste better than others, and some prove more resistant to disease. Putting in a...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Deer / Edible Plants / Evergreen Perennials / Evergreen Shrubs / Fall / Ferns / Flowering Shrubs / Food Forest / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Keystone Species / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Native Trees / Ornamental Shrubs / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by 

Making the Choice: Native v. Imported Plants

  What do you consider when choosing plants for your home and yard?  We all have a checklist of criteria in the back of our minds.  Our criteria are very personal to our own needs and situation.  You may not purchase and plant as many plants as I do each year, but I’m sure that you enjoy the choosing and the planting just as much.     We gardeners have been encouraged to plant more native plants for quite a...

Community Gardening / Edible Plants / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Keystone Species / Native Trees / Permaculture / Planting Trees / Propagation / Wildlife Gardening

 by 

Growing Indigenous Trees from Seeds

  What Are Indigenous Trees? Indigenous trees are those native species that have grown in our area since before European colonization.  They are uniquely suited to our climate.  They support our indigenous wildlife and make our landscape unique.  Trees produced from long generations of the same species, that have all grown in our immediate area, are considered indigenous.  A tree ordered from a mail-order nursery, even of the same species, was likely grown from seed, or a cutting, indigenous to...

Community Gardening / Edible Plants / Fall / Farming / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Vegetable Gardening

 by 

But Is It Ripe?

When do you harvest watermelon? There are several factors that indicate ripeness First, the underside ground spot turns from whitish to creamy yellow. Next look at the tendrils closest to the melon, they should be brown and shriveled. The rind loses its gloss and appears dull. And last but not least, when thumped the melon produces a dull thud, rather than a ringing sound. Not just water and sugar Watermelon has many health benefits. One is that it is loaded...